Another Chance
by LynnMashihita
Summary: He's back and wants to grab all the chances of loving her. This time he won't back off like before. He will fight with all his might to win her love.
1. Chapter 1

The wind of the spring welcomed him when finally he stepped down the cab. He looked around and suddenly feeling contented when he saw the cherry bloomed everywhere. It made him reminiscence his old days before he decided to leave this place. It was a sudden decision, and he actually didn't prepare anything for his new life. He just went and never sent even one letter for everybody he left. He had readied himself for one or two punches or kicks when he decided to go back here weeks ago. They deserved to be mad at him for his selfish decision. He gave them no explanation, not a reason, and even not a good bye. He just left.

A bunch of high school boys passed by, ranting about their teachers that they considered as stupid people who were to proud with their pride that actually wasn't even exist. He smiled slightly, could clearly pictured himself on the boys.

He stepped forward and inhaled the air deeply, made it refreshed his lungs. _It's so fresh here. I really miss this place._

"Shin?"

A doubtful voice called him from behind. He turned to be faced to a very fat young man, still on his bicycle, with one of his feet hanging in the side of it, looked at him in disbelief.

He smiled widely at him. "Yo." He raised his hand and greeted him.

"Shin!"

The fat man went down from his bicycle and parked it where he stopped before and ran to him.

"Shin! Long time no see! Where did you came back? Why didn't you give me a call? You should stop by my shop."

"Wow, wow, one by one, Kuma. I just got back. I came here straight from the airport."

"You should tell me if you want to go back here. I can pick you up from the airport."

Shin smiled slightly, feeling warmth suddenly fulfilling him. _This is what I've missed. My friends_.

"It's okay. I can take care of myself. This is still my hometown though."

Kuma grabbed his arm. "Come on. Come to my shop and I will treat you a lunch."

Shin smiled. "Nice idea. I didn't touch anything along the flight. I slept all the time actually, and very hungry now."

"Nice time, huh? Let's go."

"Are you done with the deliveries?"

"Mm. I was on my way back to the shop when I saw you. I thought I was dreaming, but it's really you. You don't change much. You still look exactly like years ago."

Kumai reached for his bicycle and they walked side by side.

"There's no way I don't change." He snorted. "It's been years. Everybody changes, so am I. I cut my hair this short, my skin got tanned, and everybody said that I grew fatter each day."

"I mean not your look. You changed, of course. You look matured than before but you still have your cool aura around you. You still have the smell that it's you. That's how I recognized you. You don't look fat at all for your information. It fit you more. You were just too thin back then."

Shin chuckled at the comment. "I take that as a compliment."

Kumai smiled. "I am complimenting you. You look better now. Much, much better."

The latter was shaking his head and smiling slightly. He breathed deeply as if he was never enough. "I really miss this place."

Kumai smiled again and nodded. "It always brings memories, doesn't it? I always riding my bicycle through this park everyday to do the deliveries and I never had enough with this place too."

They went through a walk path with row of cherry blooms in the side and felt the cool air swallowed them in a comfort. The spring was never been boring. The fresh air, the beautiful scenery, they were like a magnet that pulled everybody to miss it all the time.

* * *

"You can live here until you find a room." Ami poured him another cup of sake for the second time. "We still have one room available."

"Yeah. Stay here, please."

Shin looked at the couple in front of him in awe. He really missed everything for years. Once again, warmth swallowed him. He smiled slightly and nodded. "Okay."

Ami smiled. "I'll prepare the room."

Before he could thank her, the woman walked away.

"She's very nice."

Kuma turned to the direction where his wife left and looked back to Shin. "She is."

"How you met her again? You don't meet her again after the incident, right?"

Kime smiled widely. "It's a long story."

"I have all day."

He looked at Shin and decided to tell him when he a customer went in. "Later." He stood up and welcomed him. "Ah. Long time no see. Are you alone? Or your friends will be here too?"

The tall young man smiled widely. "We promised to meet here today. I guess I came too early." He looked at his watch and smiled again. "It's still fifteen minutes to our appointment."

"Do you want to order first?"

"Nah. I will wait for the other."

Right when he finished his talk, the door of the shop opened and revealed the not so tall young man, who almost skipped through the door.

"Kamiya! Long time no see. Kumai-San, you don't change too! You look so healthy!"

"Hahaha ... I'm always healthy, you know." He laughed hard at the comment. "How's work, Kuraki?"

Kuraki almost emptied his glass of water and turned to Kumai with a wide grin on his face. "So far so good."

"You don't get trouble like the last time, don't you?" Kamiya narrowed his eyes while looking suspiciously at him, made him received a slap on his arm.

"Of course I don't. Everything went smoothly like a silk."

"You can't say that when you just yelled at the boss yesterday. He's still mad at you, you know." A tall person appeared from behind and sat right away in front of him.

"See. You always got trouble all the time. How's the story?"

"Ask him."

"Ren, you shouldn't tell him that." Kuraki whined and pouted at him to receive a shrug from him.

"Explain." Kamiya demanded him with a very deep voice.

Kuraki looked at him in silent. He just realized that he looked more matured than before, and he turned to a stern person each day so he sighed realized that he didn't have a choice than telling him the story.

"It's his fault, not mine."

"What fault?"

Two other guys showed up and joined them, made Kuraki sighed again. He couldn't run away now, with three person stared at him intently, waited for his story to be told.

"He didn't give me time to breath. I was just arriving from the delivery and just taking my nap when suddenly he yelled at me. He said I'm too lazy and promise to fire me if I don't get my ass out to back to my work."

"The delivery was just three blocks from the company." Ren said flatly.

"Were you playing a game until morning again, Kura?" Another guy joined them again.

Kuraki curved his lips and nodded slightly, while giving them his innocent look as he could.

"That's your own fault then!" Everybody yelled at him at the same time.

"You shouldn't do that." Kumai whined at him too, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You should apologize." Kamiya pointed at him, forced him slightly to straighten his problem right away.

"He did, and our boss didn't fire him as the result with a promise that he won't do it again." Ren slapped him slightly on his shoulder.

"Speaking of problem, I guess I just succeeded on avoiding one." Said the tallest among them.

Everybody turned to him and gave him a silent question about his statement.

"Last week, a man came to our shop and tried to bribe us to take a loan from his company. He said that we could build bigger tofu-shop with the loan. We can produce more tofu which mean more benefit will come. As usual, my father rejected him and he insisted to continue our shop as how it is. I understood why he did it. It' all his effort to make the shop run until today and he doesn't want to speculate for something he couldn't predict. He had satisfied with the result of our shop, and he explained me his reason and I agreed him right away. I didn't fight him."

"That's not you, Honjo." Kuraki blinked in disbelief.

"Yeah, usually you will fight him for everything he decided to the shop. You always say that he doesn't have a will to promote the shop."

Honjo smiled sheepishly. "I know, but this time I suddenly just wanted to try to listen to him for once. I tried to understand his decision and thought on his side. Therefore, I went to search the company and found something suspicious with the company. I remembered that day when I got loaned from my senior and deceived so I guess it's better for us to back off. I was relieved when I knew that I was right for agreeing my father."

"I guess you just took the right decision. It's better to stay out of people when you think they're suspicious. Money is important but there's something else more important than that."

Everybody turned over to the source of the voice and found a big grimace of a sunny face of a woman who was smiling widely at her while leaning over at Kuraki's shoulder.

"I've told you many times not to pop out of nowhere suddenly! You're creepy." Yamato hissed while glaring at her slightly but didn't feel any feeling of annoy or scared at all. Even actually he missed all of those feeling, a sense of disgust of being tailed all the times. He smiled slightly at the memories where they should hide or run from her back then.

"You're the creepy one. What's with that smile? You don't smile! You didn't smile! Now you're smiling!" The woman almost screamed out of her lungs, almost having a heart attack watching her 'the most cold student ever' was smiling even slightly in front of her.

Yamato chuckled at the reaction. He leaned over and then narrowed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Yamaguchi, but you look stupid with that fake innocent face of yours."

Kumiko blinked many times before a realization struck her. "What?"

Then she received laugh from all of her former students, even Kumai was laughing out loudly, didn't believe that someone was actually dared to say those words to her. He raised his hands and gave Yamato his two thumbs up, and received his infamous grimace as the result. He went to the bar and stared to Shin who shook his head slightly, told him silently not to say anything about his presence at the time. He nodded understandingly and started to make his ramen before he realized that not everyone ordered yet.

"Guys, what should I serve you?"

The boys turned to him and yelled almost together to him about their order. It was as if they were trying to be the louder than everyone was. Even Kumiko was yelling out her order together with them, as she was a member of the group.

"Okay, okay. I got it. As usual, right?" He shook his head. This was the most noisy group of all Kumiko,s student. So far he knew, this group was the closest to her since they were still making the contact to her. They often met in the shop and usually Kumiko was popping out from nowhere. No one saw her entered the shop, nor walked over them. She was like a ghost for everyone, who could walk without any sound of her steps.

"You guys are fooling me again." Kumiko whined and took a seat among her students who were just bowing her slightly as apologize. That made her almost startled, but then she realized that those boys had changed now. They had grown into more matured people and she suddenly missed all of those days where she tried hard to get through to them.

She sighed contently before decided to accept the fact that they had grown much than the last time she met them.

"So, how's school? And work?"

"We're trying. Hard. This is the real life and we have to stand on our own feet now. We can't depend on other to keep us strong. We should fight on ourselves now."

"Wrong."

All of the boys turned to her and saw the seriousness on her face.

"You can depend on each other to keep you strong. It's just like where you were in Akadou. Real life is hard, but it doesn't mean that you have to be separated from each other. You have your own business but you still can depend on each other. Support each other, and try to be there for each other. That will make you stronger than you have."

The boys were stunned and then saw each other before chuckling to each other.

"What?" Kumiko asked them curiously.

"That's what I've tried to say but you just cut me on my way." Ren grinned widely and laughed hard when he saw her backed out suddenly as if she was doing something wrong.

"She never changes." Kamiya shook his head in disbelief.

"Something never changes, and she's one of it." Ichimura snorted slightly. "I guess she won't change at all."

"Shut up!" She hissed and embarrassed at her own self. A glimpse of sadness flashed in one face and she suddenly stiffened. It's like deja vu. "Ogata, how's school?"

The boy turned to her and shrugged. "Nothing's new. Rules, homework, just like any other school."

"Have you made friends?"

Yamato smiled slightly and almost answered her when his phone went off. "Sorry." He took out his phone and read the message. "Sorry guys, I really have to go." He stood up and reached out his bag.

"Is it a date?" Kamiya pulled his arm to stop him.

Yamato turned to him and smirked. He leaned over to them and whispered, "it's a secret," and he almost ran out of the door after that, tried to avoid everybody to stop him more.

"Hoi! What's that?" Everyone growled at the answer and made a commotion inside the shop with their whine for not receiving a satisfying answer.

"Should we stalk him?"

Everyone stopped whining and turned to the shortest of them before grinning like mad.

"Let's go."

They stood up and went away to the direction where Yamato left.

"Wait guys! I'm going with you." Kumiko reached out for her bag and followed them.

"Wait! What about the order?" Kumai yelled at her when she reached the door.

"Ah, mm, send it to my house. I will drag them there later." She turned to him and voiced the first idea came into her mind. There, she saw the familiar figure was sitting in the bar. She narrowed her eyes, tried hard to remember but found nothing in her memory. She shrugged and left to follow the boys.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N : **This should be posted last week but suddenly nausea hit me and made me lay on my bed for almost a week. I couldn't even lift a finger and I don't have my brother to help me to post this, too. So, sorry, for the late update~

* * *

Kumai looked at the door before turning back to Shin, who was silently tapping the table with his fingers in a steady rhythm.

"Don't you want to greet her?"

Shin chuckled slightly then slumped on the bar table. "Honestly I'm scared. It's okay if she kicks me, or punch me, or whatever she wants to do to me, but what if she doesn't say anything and just leave. What do you think should I do?"

The fat man curved his mouth up. "Love is complicated, isn't it? I remember that I fought a lot to get Ami's parent agreement for marrying her. In your case, it's the reverse. I believe her grandfather will receive your proposal right away but not Yankumi, especially after you left without leaving any word."

Shin sighed heavily. He knew he was wrong. He was too young to understand a mutual relationship needed understanding from both side, but that's not an excuse. He was too afraid to admit that he fell in love to her. He was too afraid that his feeling was just a shortly and would disappear right after he confessed, but once again, that's not even an excuse. He was just running away from his feeling. He was afraid because he was falling in love with his teacher. He wasn't an obedient kid, and honestly he was always against all the odds, but fell for his teacher wasn't something he could take it lightly. She was a woman, a matured woman despite of her innocent acts.

He was too much thinking about what others said. It's okay if the people were badmouthing him but he couldn't imagine what would happen if they ever touch her. He couldn't stand of imagining her suffering for his stupid feeling. Okay, that' not even the reason again, but that was what he felt years ago.

Each day he tried hard to forget about her. He worked harder and harder, moved from one place to another, made contacts with so many people, listened carefully so many experiences from his new friends, in hope that he had agreed himself that he had taken the right decision to leave her and everything related to her. It was a wrong love.

However, he was wrong. He was definitely wrong because the harder he tried to erase her form his mind, the stronger she stubbornly appeared in it. Her face was always drawn in his mind and couldn't be erased. Her voice was suddenly ringing in his ears every time he felt too tired and wanted to give up. Everything about her was always swallowing him each day.

Until one morning, yesterday morning, he woke up and decided that he should get back and straighten his feeling. Even when he stepped his feet back in the places where he remembered as memorable places he was still swimming in his doubt. _What should I do if I suddenly meet her here? What should I do if she suddenly pops out of nowhere like she always did? _All of the questions were fulfilling his mind. However, when he heard her voice again few minutes ago, he decided to admit that he was falling in love too deep with her and decided to confess whatever the consequences are.

_I can't run all my life. I have to face this. I can't hide anymore. It is now or never._

If all was as easy as he imagined.

He sighed heavily and once again slumped on the bar. "I still couldn't imagine what I have to do if she just leaves without saying anything."

"But if you don't say anything, if you don't tell her, you won't know about her feeling. What if she actually loves you too? You don't know that, do you?"

He turned to the staircase where Ami went down with her daughter in her arms. He had to admit that she looked very beautiful that way. He silently cursed for his best friend's nice fate for having her as a wife.

"You have to try, Sawada."

"Just Shin, please."

Ami smiled at him and sat beside him. "You really should try. You won't get anything if you stay mute. You have to voice out your feeling. She is a woman. I am a woman. I understand what she thinks. As you know that we will think that it's not a love if a man doesn't voice out his feeling. Okay, some of us don't need words to know your feeling but we will have this feeling of unsure and will back off silently if we don't get any insurance that our feeling is welcomed. We don't want to fight for something absurd. We want to make ourselves assured at least fifty percents that a man has the same feeling with us."

Shin didn't know what to say. She's not just beautiful but also smart. Everything she said was very reasonable and he could understand easily what she tried to tell him.

"She is different. She doesn't think like most of us who annoyingly demanding all of the attention from our men, but she is a woman, especially a woman in her age. You have to know, Shin, that she had reached an age where she will take any chance she gets. She is in an age where she won't care about love anymore."

She slightly gulped. The woman was totally right. He knew Yankumi was different. She had a different way of thinking than any other woman in the world, but still, she was a woman. She's not ordinary woman but she was a normal.

Ami tapped his arm and smiled to him. "Get all the help you can and fight. Don't stay silent because she won't know how your feeling is if you don't tell her."

A bunch of young worker entered the shop. Kumai left to serve, leaving him watching his friends in awe. He smiled slightly about his change. In his memory, his fat friend considered as an almost selfish person who only cares about food. Everything would go fine with him as long as foods served in front of him. He wouldn't complaint, he would do everything you want as long as you gave him food.

Now, that boy turned into a very responsible man. With beautiful wife and daughter, he looked confident to face this hard life. He looked very comfortable with the fact that he should work hard every day to earn money for their life, despite the fact that he once felt ashamed to the fact that his father was selling ramen.

No. He couldn't see his selfish friend anymore. He was seeing a newborn person.

_I guess I've lost completely to him. He is great. I'm nothing compared to him now. I'm just a selfish human being who is always trying to run away from my own feeling. I'm now feeling ashamed of myself for always too proud of myself._

"I guess I'll take a little walk."

Ami smiled and nodded before putting her daughter in her baby stroller to help her husband serving the customer.

Outside the shop, once again Shin breathed deeply and felt the fresh air fulfilling his lungs. He looked to his both side before decided to walk to the right, and decided that the park would give him another reason to admit that he fell for him true to his heart. It was the place where he spent his days the most when he was young, with his friends or just to walk alone when he felt suffocated with his life. The park gave him an unexplainable comfort.

He stopped in the middle of the street along the park and looked around. It didn't change. It was actually the same as when he was younger. It was still green and shady. The only thing that made this park different from his time was that so many people passed by this place now. Not only students but also workers, or just old people who were trying to find comfort like what he just did.

He closed his eyes and a picture of a woman with her pure smile flashed in front of him.

"Sawada?"

He opened his eyes and stunned. The person who was swimming in his head was standing right in front of him, looking at him in surprise, and suddenly jumped to him and punched his arm slightly.

"Wow! When were you back? Why don't you call me at all?"

Every thought he had disappeared suddenly and he could only blink many times, tried hard to find a good word to retort back.

"Why should I tell you that I'm back?"

The question slipped off his mouth easily like always.

_Stupid! You shouldn't say that!_

"Of course you have to tell me. You don't say anything and just left, and now you just appear again here, don't you think it's appropriate for you to stay silent. You should call me."

She looked matured than years ago. He had to admit that she grew beautifully too, despite the fact that she looked older now. He tried hard not to look too excited since the woman called him. Yes, he's excited, much, but his pride told him not to show it. Not in front of the person.

"Come on, you have to come to my house. Everybody will get excited if they know that you've back." She grabbed his hand and pulled him.

"Yankumi?"

Both of them stopped and turned to be faced by five persons who were staring at them with big question marks drawn all over their face. One of them pointed at her hand, which was hugging the latter's hand.

"What's that?" Honjo pointed once again to her hand.

Yamaguchi followed the finger and smiled sheepishly when she found out what her former student referred.

"Ah, this is Sawada Shin, my former student from Shirokin."

"Shirokin?"

"Yes. He's Kuma's friend."

Everybody nodded together, understood of the situation.

"This reminds me of Odagiri."Ichimura mumbled loud enough for everybody to hear.

"Yeah, yeah." Honjo suddenly turned into hyper. "I remember clearly how I bulge my eyes into this big when I saw them walking together side by side." He raised both of his hands and made fists in front of them.

A jealousy crept out of Shin's heart suddenly. He took a glance to the woman and his heart sunk right away when he saw a sheepish smile tugged on her lips.

"Oh, come on, guys! Do you think I can't be that close to my student? He was my student, and will be my student forever." She reached his hand and pulled him once again to walk away. "I treat you equally, you know, because you are precious for me. All of you, no one left."

_He was my student and will be my student forever._

The words mingled in his head repeatedly, as if reminded him about the truth. Shin pulled his hand from her and walked silently beside her. _So, this is how I've been in your heart. Your student?_

"Do you still make any contact to him?" Kuraki nudged her in her side.

"Of course! He even went to my house many times after that. He even called me unexpectedly some times. Not saying anything, just asking me if I'm free or not then hung up."

Everybody praised her in awe, for having such a deep affection for her students.

"And thank to you for coming to Akadou. You saved us." Kamiya smiled at her genuinely.

"Oh, come on, guys! Don't praise me that much! I'm flattered!" She slapped him on his side, made him wobbled.

"Yamato said the same too, you know, and it's rare for him to praise someone like that."

"And that stupid Yamato got away too fast." Ren grumbled silently behind them.

"Don't you think he's been too secrecy lately?" Kuraki jumped and blocked them. "You know, he never tells us anything again. I don't remember he brags about his life, or his school, like we always did when we decided to meet. He just smiled and listened for what we told him but never once he tells anything about himself."

"Guys, please," Yamaguchi cut them right away, "he's trying to cope up with everything, okay, with the sudden change of his life. He doesn't want to make you worried. Isn't this just like him as usual?" She didn't really like they fell into wrong guess which she knew that it wasn't wrong at all before. They weren't her students anymore but she was still feeling that they were. That's why she hated when they said they felt something was wrong then something was usually really wrong.

"Yankumi, don't you see that he is too silent lately? This is odd, you know. Okay, he is a silent from the very beginning but this time he is more silent. He smiles at our jokes but it's sour. It is really sour. I don't know. I just feel something is not right with him."

Everybody stopped walking and turned to Ichimura who looked at them seriously.

"I'm not kidding with my feeling. Since the divorce of his parent, he changed. He turned more silent than before."

Shin silently furrowed his eyebrows. _Divorce? What's this? I never heard about this._

"Honjo, do you know something?"

The said person looked up and sighed. "Actually he called me around two weeks ago. He said nothing important, just asking about my relationship with my dad, and the store, and then he hung up."

Everybody looked at each other in wonder.

"Come on, guys, he's trying okay? Why don't we just let him be for a while? He will come to you when he really needs a hand to lend." Yamaguchi tried to cheer them up.

"Yeah, right, like he will do that willingly. The last time we needed to force him to spill everything, but still he didn't say anything. He closed his mouth tightly even when we pleaded him to say something. He still stays silent even when he knew that we knew he was hurt."

"About what? Why I never heard about this?" Now Yamaguchi who was the one who blocking them.

The five of them sighed and rolled their eyes as the result.

"We saw him being cornered by his father again."

"Eh? What happened? Did they fight again? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Nope." Ren walked forward with a frown on his face. "It was just like before. He said something awful to Yamato but this time Yamato didn't do anything. He just bowed to him and say _I'm really sorry_. He looked pained but said nothing to defend himself. I don't like this at all."

Ichimura followed Ren who was walking ahead in annoyance step. "Me too. I prefer what he did before when he punched that bastard on his face than just keep silence like the last time. He's scary when he said nothing like that. I feel like I'm watching a ready to explode volcano but tried hard not to explode."

_This is not good at all_. Yamaguchi stared at them in silent. "Do you know where he lives?"

They looked at each other and sighed before shook their head together.

"Then call him and tell him that he has you beside him. I guess that's the best thing you can do now."

"I'm sorry, but I have to leave."

Yamaguchi turned to the speaker. "Eh? Where are you going? You should come to my house first."

"I will, but not now. I'm sorry, bye."

Shin turned before Yamaguchi could stop him and walked away fast. _I have to find him soon_. He took his phone and scrolled through names.

"_Yo, what's up?_"

"Where are you?"

"_In my room in my apartment. Is there something wrong? You sound worried of something. Is a lion preying on you right now?_"

Shin didn't give him any answer. He closed his phone and suddenly ran.


	3. Chapter 3

He stared at his phone when he hung up.

"What's that?" He mumbled softly and decided to let it go. He walked back to his paperwork and almost drowned to his own world when suddenly the bell rang. He looked at the door, feeling upset so sudden about the intrusion, and decided to open it after the third ring.

The face he met when he opened his door surprised him. He stunned for a while, didn't believe of what he saw.

"What are you doing here?"

Shin sighed heavily and invited himself in before the younger let him. He opened the fridge, and took out a bottle of water, and emptied almost half of it in one gulp.

He closed the door silently and leaned on it. He folded his hands in front of his chest and smirked lightly. "When did you arrive?"

Shin once again breathed heavily and went to the couch. He almost slammed his butt on it and leaned.

"You've met her lately?"

He raised his eyebrows and chuckled lightly when he got what he meant. "What now? A sudden interrogation? You've just arrived and all you ask is her? What about _how are you, cousin? Is everything okay?_" he stopped for a while when a thought flashed in his mind. "Ups, I believe you've met her today. Am I right?"

Shin didn't deny him. "Just tell me that you're still having contact with her lately. You even visited her house many times lately. What are you doing there?"

He almost gaped with the burst of his question. He narrowed his eyes and a naughty thought flashed. He walked over and smirked.

"What if I say that we were doing something really, really, really ... "

He could see the tension mixed with anxiety in his eyes, made him decided to stop his plan right away. He smiled widely.

"Ryu ... "

He smiled ear to ear now, made Shin realized soon that he was joking.

"What? Are you jealous over me? Are you serious?"

Shin face palmed his face and ducked deeply. He didn't deny Ryu's question, yet didn't answer it.

The younger shook his head. He walked over and stop in front of him. He kicked his feet softly, made him looked up to him.

"I like her and I won't hide it, but that's all. No love story between us. I don't care what you've heard from ..., "he furrowed his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes. "did you meet the Akadou gang?"

Shin bit his lip and nodded slightly.

"Which one? The school boys or the formers?"

"I don't know. There are five of them ..., and ..., ah, Yamato's friends."

Ryu sighed heavily. "It's the former." Ryu drank his water and walked to the window. "We kind of ..., accidentally met in Kuma's shop, and they were in some kind of euphoria about Yankumi having a date with a cool man. They just saw us walked together actually, but I guess they fell into false guess and concluded something false too. Everything's clear actually, when we explain later on, and I don't know that they're still having their wrong assumption. I thought they had over it."

Shin stared at the younger intently only to find honesty in his eyes. He sighed heavily.

"It's not jealousy. I just feel that ..., if you really fall for her ..., I don't know. Maybe I should back away?"

Ryu chuckled. "You just said _maybe_, Shin, which means that you are actually not sure if you could back away that easy."

Shin slightly pouted at the comment but said nothing. He had to admit that he was right. He didn't know whether he should back away or fight for his feeling if he had to face Ryu as his rival or not.

"You still love her, don't you?"

Shin looked away and sighed heavily. He closed his eyes and that's enough for the younger to read the sign.

"Then why don't you confess now?"

He opened his eyes and shot the younger a sharp look. "It's not that easy, you know."

Ryu laughed slightly. "It is." He threw himself to the couch beside him. "Just drag her somewhere and say I love you straightly because she wouldn't understand if you just give her signs. She is incredibly dense, if you forget."

Shin took a glance to his cousin and agreed him silently.

_You're right, and somehow that is the hardest part of this stupid thing. She is very dense. It will be very hard for me to explain anything because she will not understand easily and this isn't the part I'm mastered of. Hft, what should I do?_

"You came back here to do that, didn't you? Then do it. What are you waiting for?"

Shin sighed and closed his eyes. He laid back to the couch and combed his hair with his fingers desperately. He almost pulled it in the end but then closed his face with his palms.

"I wish everything moves as easy as a pop story in a novel or something."

Ryu smiled at him. "It is actually that easy, you know. Come on. You can't give up before trying anything."

Shin didn't respond. He didn't even move.

"Do you need any help?" Ryu whispered slowly, in an annoying tone if Shin paid attention to it, but too bad he didn't. "Yamato and his gang is the only former who often get in touch with her lately. And they kind of very excited if it related to something called love, and I believe they will be more excited if this thing related to Yankumi."

Shin silenced for a moment before finally he suddenly opened his eyes.

"Right. Let's forget about that first. I wanna ask you something. I accidentally heard about a divorce. Do you know anything about that?"

Ryu looked at him and furrowed his eyebrows. "Who? My parents? No! They're fine."

"Aunt Yoshiko."

The younger kept staring to him and just blinked many times. He tried to digest everything. "What? I met Yamato before but he didn't say anything about that."

Shin breathed heavily and stood up. He walked over to the window and looked up to the blue sky. "I saw him today. He's too thin in my opinion. His friends said that he's more silent than usual. When did you meet him?"

"Around three or four months ago. That's the first time after years and too bad, the last time too. I got his numbers but he was always busy when I said that I need to meet him."

"Have you tried to visit the house?"

"I did many times but never once they're home. The house looked empty from the outside. I rang the bells many times but nobody came out to open the door for me."

"They moved?"

Ryu shook his head. "Their neighbor said they're still living in that house but Aunt Yoshiko was working now. They didn't say clearly but it's a little company down town. Yamato goes to a vocational school, he said something about architecture."

"Can you call him now? Ask him to meet somewhere."

Ryu stared at him and found undeniable worry in his eyes. He wasn't asking, but begging him silently, so he reached out his phone and dialed the numbers.

"Ah, where are you?"

"_School. I still have a class to attend. What's up?"_

"Can we meet? There's someone here that really want to meet you."

"_Who?"_

"It's a secret~. Can we?"

There's a pregnant moment that made Ryu took a glance to Shin who stared back to him in wonder.

"_I'll call you later."_

"Sure. Stay safe."

Shin raised his eyebrows to ask him but he just shrugged. He sat back to his side and pursed his lips upward.

"What?"

"I don't like his tone."

Shin questioned him silently.

"It's like ..., he didn't really want to meet us. He said he will call us later, which means he was trying to find any reason to reject us. He's hiding something."

The older leaned to the backside of the couch. "His friends were talking about someone is hurting him. Someone said something awful but he didn't do anything. He just asked for apologize in return."

"What? Why should he ask for apologize if he is the one who hurt?"

"I don't know. That's why I told you to call him. Maybe we can see something when we meet him in person."

Ryu looked at him in silent.

"What?"

"You just said _maybe_ again."

Shin almost rolled his eyes as his respond. "We know Yamato, right? He won't spill anything even when we force him to tell. He will shut his mouth tightly like usual."

Ryu blinked many times and then nodded. "You're right."

Yamato was just sitting on the chair when he finally realized the one Ryu said wanted to meet him.

"Shin! What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you? What took you so long?"

Yamato took a glance to his watch. "I came on time. Shouldn't you be in Africa?"

"He needs a help to confess to someone that's why he flied here right after he woke up one morning."

Yamato turned to Ryu who was grinning like mad.

"What? Who?"

"His former teacher, my former teacher, and your former teacher."

The youngest stared back and forth to both of them and almost gaped when a realization struck him. "No."

Ryu inflated his cheeks and nodded slowly.

"No way!"

"Is it wrong?" Shin threw him a flat question.

"Of course not. It's just …, I don't know." Yamato looked away while trying to absorb the news. "I mean, Yankumi? Really?"

"Yes. I fall for the densest person in the world but it doesn't mean that I do something wrong." Shin cut him right away. "Don't I?"

Ryu and Yamato chuckled together for the last question.

"You shouldn't ask that question when you feel confident with your statement in first place."

Shin inverted his face on the table to hide his unsecured feeling. "What should I do?" He whined.

"Just tell her straightly. Take her somewhere and tell her straight to the point that you love her because any sign won't work for her."

Shi looked up to the youngest and sighed heavily.

"I said to him the same too~" Ryu giggled lightly to the fact that Yamato had the same strategy with him.

"I'm right, aren't I? If you give her a bouquet of rose for example, she will accept it gladly as a beautiful gift for her late birthday or any occasion you won't know what."

"He's right again~" Ryu could only giggle to the youngest explanation.

"Okay. Tell me honestly. What do you think about her?"

Yamato folded his hands on his chest and started to think. "Pure."

Shin, and also Ryu, raised their eyebrows to the answer.

"You know, she's different with the girl around. When another girls fall in love with somebody, they always think about the look first. It we have the look then it would be easy for us to get a girl or more, but if we don't have it then say good bye to the chance we should have. I'm not trying to say about something bad, but that's the fact. Another example, if we have good manner then all the girl in the world will chase us like there's no tomorrow but when they found out that we're delinquent, even we have the look, they will turn away right away."

"You got the point." Ryu took a ship on his tea.

"But Yankumi is different from all of those girls. She never thinks about the look, or the manner, or anything related to good-looking persons. She's just interested in person with honest and strong will. She will stick close to them as if she glued to them and cheered them without having any thought of having a payback. She did it gladly with full of passion that I found it annoying sometimes."

"Did you meet her lately?"

Yamato looked at the oldest in silent. He didn't know why but he read something in his question. "I met her yesterday but I had something to do suddenly so I left her with my friends. I don't know. Perhaps they're having fun somewhere, or she dragged them to her house like the last time we met before yesterday meeting." He shrugged. "Just like her as usual.

_They're following you but they lost you._

Shin stared at him intently for a moment before gazed away.

"What?" Yamato caught the stare and felt a little curious grew in his heart.

The oldest looked at him and pursed his lips. "It's nothing." He reached his tea and sipped it.

A naughty thought appeared to his mind and he smirked. "Do you need any help?"

He almost chocked while Ryu was laughing out loudly.

"I told you that he will say that. He and his gang are famous with meddling with someone's love. Exactly like their beloved teacher."

A blush crept out of Shin's face. "Shut up." He mumbled slowly but didn't look mad at all.

"So, how's aunty?"

Yamato looked at Ryu and hesitated for a while before sipping his tea. "She's fine. She's working now."

Shin and Ryu took a glance to each other.

"Why so?"

Yamato looked away. "Everything is different now but I won't explain anything. I believe you've heard something out there, that's why you called me. Am I right?"

Once again, the elder took a glance to each other.

"I've heard about the divorce." Shin said it while staring at Yamato intently. "Yesterday I was in Kumai Ramen too. I saw you came, and then went away, and your friends decided to follow you, Yankumi joined them as expected. They bragged about you having a date with a girl and they lost you so fast so when I met again with them in the park, they were grumbling how fast you disappeared."

Yamato furrowed his eyebrows and smiled lightly. "I was having my part time job."

"Where?"

"In a bookstore down town. One of my classmates offered me the job because they need more people so I accepted it because I realized that I need one. I can't let mom works alone." He looked to Shin. "When did you come?"

Shin smiled. "Yesterday, around the lunch time. I was just walking around the park because that's the place I really want to visit first after years. Kuma found me and dragged me to his shop. He even invited me to live there before I got my own room."

"Why don't you stay with me?"

They looked to Ryu who raised his hands in the air.

"I don't mind having a roommate if it's you because I know you won't make any noise at night."

Shin thought for a while. "I don't mind too, but I should tell Kuma about this but I should tell him about this first."

**A/N :** Okay, fine. I still believe that those three related to each other, so I made them as cousins once again.


End file.
